Grappling with AI: How Do / Can / Should I? — Sarah Lyman, Farm to Institution New England

Sarah Lyman, Director of Communications and Operations at Farm to Institution New England (FINE), presented to the Food System Communicators Community of Practice on August 28, 2026, hosted by the Institute for Agroecology at the University of Vermont. The session works through three questions: whether we should be using AI tools in food systems work, whether our organizations have actually said we can, and what it looks like in practice when we do. It covers FINE's own AI policy, the question of whose terms of service govern the tools we use every day, and several working examples — including a tool built to synthesize partner newsletters into FINE's biweekly email. LINKS: Northeast Farm to Institution Summit - Call for Proposals Open: http://www.f2isummit.org AI Policy & Guidelines for Use at FINE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15... Experimenting with AI at FINE : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/... Vermont Agency of Education : https://education.vermont.gov/press-r... What-Uses-More.com: http://www.what-uses-more.com Agents are where AI’s energy bill gets ugly : https://jonippolito.substack.com/p/ag... Communicating the Social Implications of AI, FrameWorks Institute : https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/a... Fostering Meaningful Engagement, Using AI on the Farm and a Launching New Campus Farm, Panel at November 2026 Campus Farmer Summit : https://www.farmtoinstitution.org/cam...